BrianGarst.com

The EPA, which easily contends for the dubious distinction of being the most flagrantly unconstitutional of our government’s many unconstitutional activities, has found yet another vehicle through which to expand its near dictatorial powers: dust.

What horrible substance is the EPA trying to protect us from now? Dust.

…Kelsey Huber, writing for “The Foundry,” a blog of The Heritage Foundation, explains that “when EPA regulations were first applied to particulates in 1971, they were created to target soot,” which consists of carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of coal, oil, wood and other fuels, and soot actually is harmful, in sufficient quantities. “Dust,” on the other hand, is merely soil that has gone airborne.

Apparently, soot is no longer a problem, or perhaps the agency just realized that it wasn’t creating enough turmoil for the country. We can’t be sure. In any case, the EPA now wants to regulate dust.

…Mr. Huber continues: “From this regulation, several problems arise. First, while human activity can create dust, it is also … a natural occurrence. How can it be effectively regulated?” A fair question.

Be careful ballplayers. The next time you slide into second, you might just be visited by the environmental gestapo.

Ok, that’s not actually likely, but the costs for this nonsensical proposed power grab are real:

…[A]nytime some government body imposes new requirements on businesses, one result is an increase in the cost of doing business, and in this case the cost of domestic food products will rise accordingly. When a farmer works his fields producing the food we eat, that may stir up some dust. Is the EPA going to fine farmers for planting or harvesting food if in the process of doing so they kick up some dust?

Does that mean that farmers will have to water fields before working them? How much is that going to cost in additional water use and time? Some crops, like corn, cannot be harvested that way.

Tamara Thies, chief environmental counsel for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, said the regulations under consideration would prove twice as stringent as the current standard.

“It would be virtually impossible for many critical U.S. industries to comply with this standard, even with use of best management practices to control dust,” she said.

Environmental Protection Agency EPA